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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (4 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UCLA Previously Published Works (2014)
Although increasing numbers of gay and lesbian individuals and couples are adopting children, gay men and lesbian women continue to face increased scrutiny and legal obstacles from the child welfare system. To date, little research has compared the experiences of gay or lesbian and heterosexual adoptive parents over time, limiting conceptual understandings of the similarities they share and the unique challenges that gay and lesbian adoptive parents may face. This study compared the adoption satisfaction, depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and social support at 2, 12, and 24 months postplacement of 82 parents (60 heterosexual, 15 gay, 7 lesbian) adopting children from foster care in Los Angeles County. Few differences were found between heterosexual and gay or lesbian parents at any of the assessments or in their patterns of change over time. On average, parents in both household types reported significant increases in adoption satisfaction and maintained low, nonclinical levels of depressive symptoms and parenting stress over time. Across all family types, greater parenting stress was associated with more depressive symptoms and lower adoption satisfaction. Results indicated many similarities between gay or lesbian and heterosexual adoptive parents, and highlight a need for services to support adoptive parents throughout the transition to parenthood to promote their well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
    Cover page: Parent Adjustment Over Time in Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Parent Families Adopting From Foster Care
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2013)

    Children who have been adopted from the foster care system often face cumulative risk factors and are found to be more likely to exhibit higher levels of emotional dysregulation and behavior problems than non-adopted children (Pollack, 2008). Given this elevated risk for maladjustment, it is critical to develop treatments to best serve this vulnerable group and their families. The current study was the development and evaluation of a new 7-week treatment intervention for children (8-13 years old) adopted from foster care based on the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness practices. The overarching goal for the project was to determine whether this treatment model, Children Adapting Mindful Practices (CHAMP), is a feasible intervention for this group exhibiting or at risk for emotional dysregulation and externalizing behavior problems.

    Twenty-eight children were recruited and participated in the study, which was held as a weekly group offered through TIES for Families, a program that promotes the successful adoption of children from foster care. Recruitment was expanded to include 4 children who were not adopted but also were exhibiting externalizing behavior problems. The initial design of the study was a randomized waitlist-control model, and this was partially modified to increase enrollment. The final sample included 7 waitlist participants and 21 immediate treatment participants.

    Results supported the feasibility and acceptability of the program, with adequate levels of attendance and homework completion. There were not significant differences between the waitlist and immediate group outcomes. In the full group of study completers (n=25), parents reported significant decreases in avoidance of their children's emotional experiences from pre-test to post-test. Parents also reported significant decreases in child behavior problems, particularly internalizing problems, and ADHD symptoms. Two months post-treatment the gains in parental mindfulness were not maintained, but the decreases in behavior problems and ADHD symptoms were maintained at trend level or stronger. Additional significant improvements in parent-reported child behavior regulation and child-reported mindfulness and emotion regulation were identified at follow-up. These results suggest that the impact of the treatment may not be maximized until there is a period of applying the skills learned in the group.

      Cover page: Acceptance and Mindfulness Treatment for Children Adopted From Foster Care
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Riverside Previously Published Works (2023)
      Strengthening the infrastructure of public health systems around trauma-informed principles is crucial to addressing the needs of traumatized children in the child welfare system. In fact, many local and state initiatives have focused on large-scale evaluation studies to determine the value of training direct service staff on trauma foundations. Less yet is known about the benefits of training leaders on trauma foundations, which is crucial given their unique influence on implementation decisions. The current study evaluates a trauma training delivered to leadership-level stakeholders through a large-scale training initiative for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Findings indicated that leaders improved in trauma knowledge from baseline to post-training and reported changes in their professional wellbeing and leadership approach after the reflective training component. The leadership trauma program may have positive downstream implications for direct service staff, organizational culture, and child and family outcomes.
        Cover page: Leveraging Leadership in Child Welfare Systems: Large-scale Trauma- and Resilience-informed Training Initiative.
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UCLA Previously Published Works (2023)
        Early caregiving adversity (ECA) is associated with elevated psychological symptomatology. While neurobehavioral ECA research has focused on socioemotional and cognitive development, ECA may also increase risk for low-level sensory processing challenges. However, no prior work has compared how diverse ECA exposures differentially relate to sensory processing, or, critically, how this might influence psychological outcomes. We examined sensory processing challenges in 183 8-17-year-old youth with and without histories of institutional (orphanage) or foster caregiving, with a particular focus on sensory over-responsivity (SOR), a pattern of intensified responses to sensory stimuli that may negatively impact mental health. We further tested whether sensory processing challenges are linked to elevated internalizing and externalizing symptoms common in ECA-exposed youth. Relative to nonadopted comparison youth, both groups of ECA-exposed youth had elevated sensory processing challenges, including SOR, and also had heightened internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Additionally, we found significant indirect effects of ECA on internalizing and externalizing symptoms through both general sensory processing challenges and SOR, covarying for age and sex assigned at birth. These findings suggest multiple forms of ECA confer risk for sensory processing challenges that may contribute to mental health outcomes, and motivate continuing examination of these symptoms, with possible long-term implications for screening and treatment following ECA.
          Cover page: Sensory processing challenges as a novel link between early caregiving experiences and mental health.
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